7 years ago
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Richmond Children's Museum
On Wednesday I drove with Michelle to Richmond to meet one of my dear friends, Stella, and her daughters Noami and Isabel. I've known Stella for a long time and she has been such a huge encouragement to me as we were making the decision to adopt. Stella has 3 adopted daughters. This was the first time she had met Michelle, and the first time I had met Noami. As you can see, Michelle had a great time playing in the museum. The most amazing part of the whole day was she left her hairbow in for such a long time!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
3 Months Home Today!
I was insprired by my friend Sara's blog. They brought home their daughter Mya the same time we brought home Michelle. Sara, I hope you don't mind that I copied your idea!
~Michelle has grown so much! She has gained 6 pounds since we got her, and she has gone from 18 month clothes to 2T. I have no idea how many inches she has grown!
~When we got her, the only English word she knew was Ma-Ma. (I think it's universal) Now she says so much. She has learned how to sign to ask for anything she doesn't know the words for.
~ She was very stingy with her affection - now she kisses everyone she loves!
~ She has developed a serious love affair with Elmo. It's really cute!
~ She is a girly-girl, through and through. She loves pretty clothes. When we put on her silk pajama's (her favorite) she rubs them and says "ooooohhhhh!" She also likes to look at herself in the mirror and loves when I tell her she is pretty.
~She has adapted great to the dog. She pets him and gives him hugs when he is on the ground close to her, but she also blesses him out when he eats her food. She has learned "No Clark!" very quickly.
~She thinks McDonald's french fries are great. She's a dipper - ketchup is a staple in our home.
~3 months ago she had a huge hole in the roof of her mouth. Food came out her nose when she ate, and she had trouble speaking. Plus, she had a ton of fluid and ear wax in her ears, making it difficult to hear. Today she has a healthy, whole mouth and clean ears that can hear everything! That's a miracle. Praise God!
I can't imagine life without her!
~Michelle has grown so much! She has gained 6 pounds since we got her, and she has gone from 18 month clothes to 2T. I have no idea how many inches she has grown!
~When we got her, the only English word she knew was Ma-Ma. (I think it's universal) Now she says so much. She has learned how to sign to ask for anything she doesn't know the words for.
~ She was very stingy with her affection - now she kisses everyone she loves!
~ She has developed a serious love affair with Elmo. It's really cute!
~ She is a girly-girl, through and through. She loves pretty clothes. When we put on her silk pajama's (her favorite) she rubs them and says "ooooohhhhh!" She also likes to look at herself in the mirror and loves when I tell her she is pretty.
~She has adapted great to the dog. She pets him and gives him hugs when he is on the ground close to her, but she also blesses him out when he eats her food. She has learned "No Clark!" very quickly.
~She thinks McDonald's french fries are great. She's a dipper - ketchup is a staple in our home.
~3 months ago she had a huge hole in the roof of her mouth. Food came out her nose when she ate, and she had trouble speaking. Plus, she had a ton of fluid and ear wax in her ears, making it difficult to hear. Today she has a healthy, whole mouth and clean ears that can hear everything! That's a miracle. Praise God!
I can't imagine life without her!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Yeah Goldfish!
Today marks one month since Michelle's surgery. The dr. told me at the one month point she can resume a normal diet. So, anticipating that, yesterday I went to the store and bought her favorite snack, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish. She saw me come in the door with the plastic bag, and spied the Goldfish bag through the plastic. She pointed to them and looked at me as if to say, "Mom, please, oh please, can I have those?" I decided 12 hours probably wasn't going to make a huge difference, so I got out a small bowl and began pouring them into the bowl for her. She stood in the middle of the kitchen and did a little happy dance. I would have given anything to have it on video. Yeah for Goldfish! We've missed them and we are so glad to have them back.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Speech therapy
Every week I look at my calendar and think "If I can just make it until next week, then things will slow down", but they never do. I don't know why I keep thinking that!
Part of why life is really busy right now is Bill is away for a few weeks. He will be taking a new job in this same area in early July, so the Army is beginning to train him to take that new position. I shouldn't complain - I know there are thousands of families who miss their loved one every day while they are deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. But I still miss him!
Michelle misses him too! He was home for a short visit over the weekend, and she gave him his first kiss. She is also trying to say his name when she sees pictures. The "d" sound is really hard for her, but she is trying.
We had a sad weekend. Bill's stepmom passed away last week. Bill arrived home late Thursday, we left Friday to make the 3 hour drive to Bill's Dad, and then returned home late Sunday to have him fly out at 4:30 a.m. on Monday. It was a whirlwind weekend, but we were so glad to be able to go and support Bill's Dad. His stepmom was sick for a long time, but it was still sad to know she had passed away. The one good thing that came out of the weekend was Michelle's grandfather, called Bumpa, finally got a chance to meet her. Bill's cousin took some sweet pictures of them together, so I hope to post those at a later date.
Yesterday we met with the early infant and toddler connection to "interview" Michelle and see exactly what services were recommended. First we went by the health department to have them recheck her hearing. (too far to drive up to Walter Reed!) She seems to have full hearing now with the tubes in place. We already suspected this - it's obvious she can hear much more, but it was nice to see it on paper.
The interview was with 3 therapist, and they spent over an hour playing with Michelle and asking me lots of questions. They concluded that she doesn't need occupational therapy. She seems to be very close to her age in most of the developmental areas. As expected, she does need speech therapy and should begin receiving that once a week starting hopefully by early April. It was exciting to hear the speech therapist write her goals. I believe by the end of the summer she will be chatting away. She is already trying so hard to learn new words and imitate things we say. Even at lunch after the evaluation, she kept signing she wanted a drink. We went by McDonalds and she was drinking from an apple juice box. She can't use a straw (partly from the surgery, partly because she has never been able to use that much force to suck due to the cleft, so she never learned.) I have to squeeze the box a little to make the juice go up to the top. She has to ask each time she wants a drink, so I was trying to get her to use the word drink instead of just signing. She was trying so hard. She has a hard time with d's, p's, b's - anything that requires lips or upper palate. But she is getting there. I'm excited to see how she progresses once she begins therapy.
The therapy team was impressed with how cute she is, and how well adapted she seems with her new family and being in a new environment. We think she is very charming!
Part of why life is really busy right now is Bill is away for a few weeks. He will be taking a new job in this same area in early July, so the Army is beginning to train him to take that new position. I shouldn't complain - I know there are thousands of families who miss their loved one every day while they are deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. But I still miss him!
Michelle misses him too! He was home for a short visit over the weekend, and she gave him his first kiss. She is also trying to say his name when she sees pictures. The "d" sound is really hard for her, but she is trying.
We had a sad weekend. Bill's stepmom passed away last week. Bill arrived home late Thursday, we left Friday to make the 3 hour drive to Bill's Dad, and then returned home late Sunday to have him fly out at 4:30 a.m. on Monday. It was a whirlwind weekend, but we were so glad to be able to go and support Bill's Dad. His stepmom was sick for a long time, but it was still sad to know she had passed away. The one good thing that came out of the weekend was Michelle's grandfather, called Bumpa, finally got a chance to meet her. Bill's cousin took some sweet pictures of them together, so I hope to post those at a later date.
Yesterday we met with the early infant and toddler connection to "interview" Michelle and see exactly what services were recommended. First we went by the health department to have them recheck her hearing. (too far to drive up to Walter Reed!) She seems to have full hearing now with the tubes in place. We already suspected this - it's obvious she can hear much more, but it was nice to see it on paper.
The interview was with 3 therapist, and they spent over an hour playing with Michelle and asking me lots of questions. They concluded that she doesn't need occupational therapy. She seems to be very close to her age in most of the developmental areas. As expected, she does need speech therapy and should begin receiving that once a week starting hopefully by early April. It was exciting to hear the speech therapist write her goals. I believe by the end of the summer she will be chatting away. She is already trying so hard to learn new words and imitate things we say. Even at lunch after the evaluation, she kept signing she wanted a drink. We went by McDonalds and she was drinking from an apple juice box. She can't use a straw (partly from the surgery, partly because she has never been able to use that much force to suck due to the cleft, so she never learned.) I have to squeeze the box a little to make the juice go up to the top. She has to ask each time she wants a drink, so I was trying to get her to use the word drink instead of just signing. She was trying so hard. She has a hard time with d's, p's, b's - anything that requires lips or upper palate. But she is getting there. I'm excited to see how she progresses once she begins therapy.
The therapy team was impressed with how cute she is, and how well adapted she seems with her new family and being in a new environment. We think she is very charming!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Good Report
We had a follow up appointment today with our doctor. Normally he would see her at 3 weeks post-op, but he will be TDY the rest of the month and wanted to see her at 2 weeks. (for those of you who aren't military, TDY basically means he will be traveling/working somewhere else for a while.)
When we walked into the waiting room, Michelle looked up at me, opened her mouth and said "Ahhh". Smart girl - she remembered what we do at this place!
The Dr. said everything looks good. No holes or fissures - YEAH!!!! He said she still has stitches in the back of her mouth, so we have to continue eating soft foods until we reach the one month mark, but he did say we could now include things like noodles.
I feel like I have been holding my breath for a long time - now I can finally relax a little. Praise God - we give Him all the glory for what He has done in Michelle's life!
When we walked into the waiting room, Michelle looked up at me, opened her mouth and said "Ahhh". Smart girl - she remembered what we do at this place!
The Dr. said everything looks good. No holes or fissures - YEAH!!!! He said she still has stitches in the back of her mouth, so we have to continue eating soft foods until we reach the one month mark, but he did say we could now include things like noodles.
I feel like I have been holding my breath for a long time - now I can finally relax a little. Praise God - we give Him all the glory for what He has done in Michelle's life!
Monday, March 2, 2009
A few pictures
Sometimes a girl just needs to sleep in her tu-tu!
Thank goodness for jello. It has certainly been a staple in the Cole house the past week.
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